


Just Pretend

by honestgrins



Series: To Rely on the Kindness of Strangers [7]
Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-10
Updated: 2016-01-10
Packaged: 2018-05-12 23:10:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5684773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/honestgrins/pseuds/honestgrins
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt: "Wildest Dreams" by Taylor Swift</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just Pretend

She tried not to look at him as she jumped for her jeans. The sex had been hot, but the woods were hardly the most comfortable place to be naked once the afterglow had faded. Still, he reclined against a tree, steady gaze piercing her back.

“Leaving already, love?”

“Already,” she asked, attempting for a light joke as she finally turned to face him. “We’ve been out here for hours. It’s dark out.”

Klaus nodded, his silence heavy. He made no move to get up, apparently comfortable in his nudity.

She bit her lip, the sudden ache inside her begging him to say something. Naturally, she filled the gaps herself. “I guess you’ll be getting back to New Orleans,” she rambled. “All that food, art, culture you talked about. Must be nice, a big city like that.”

“My offer still stands,” Klaus said softly, watching her mourn the slip of pink lace that used to be her bra. “There’s a whole world out there, love. All you have to do is ask, and I’ll show it to you.”

Clutching her ruined bra and shirt, Caroline just sagged in the reality that he was leaving. “I know,” she answered, her tiny smile feeling so bleak. “Maybe-”

Standing suddenly, Klaus shook his head. He seemed almost regretful. “Spare me the false hope, sweetheart,” he said, more kindly than she might have expected. “I promised I would walk away, and I will.”

“Will you remember me,” she asked in a whisper, too scared to look away in case he just disappeared. “I’m just a baby vampire from Mystic Falls. How do I know this isn’t just a blip on the radar for you?”

“Perhaps it is,” he admitted, toying with a blonde curl frazzled by their activities. “But I can always dream that I’ll see you again, someday.”

“Say you will,” she insisted, leaning in to graze his lips with hers. “Say you’ll remember me, even if it’s just in your dreams.”

Klaus smirked at her quiet pleading, only to kiss her more fully. “Caroline Forbes, how could anyone forget you,” he asked, resting his forehead against hers.

He flashed away before he had to tell her goodbye.

* * *

He was livid as he downed yet another glass of scotch.

Hayley had all but begged to take Hope out of the city to protect her from his family, and Klaus hadn’t seen his daughter in weeks. Even with her mother’s enhanced hybrid capabilities, Klaus hated not being able to protect Hope himself.

Camille had tried to talk to him about it, but he came to the bar for alcohol, not psychology. She had long since left him with the bottle and his sorrows, intent on approaching him another day about these impotency issues. Hours later, he barely noticed the head of blonde curls situated next to him in the booth.

“I told you, Camille,” he drunkenly growled, “I don’t want your company tonight. Leave me be.”

“Sucks to be her,” a familiar voice snorted, though it definitely wasn’t the bartender he had assumed it to be. “Are you up for my company, Klaus?”

A slender hand crept up his thigh at the question, and his mind finally realized Caroline Forbes herself was propositioning him. “Sweetheart,” he panted, breathless as he tried to seem sober. “What are you doing here?”

“I was invited,” she said, shrugging. Caroline stole his latest drink and finished it off. “I’m going to catch up on the alcohol, and we’re going to dance. At the end of the night, who knows? You just might get lucky.”

Too drunk to question his good luck, Klaus followed her to the bar. Ignoring Camille’s judgmental glare, he watched Caroline quickly drink several shots of tequila before she pulled him to the dance floor. The songs blurred together as the flashing lights and pounding bass created a trance-like state. He couldn’t believe it. “Are you really here?”

His mumbled words hit the back of Caroline’s neck, but she didn’t answer. Instead, she ground her hips back into his a little harder. The liquor made his memories hazy, and he couldn’t tell how long they danced. He could never forget the way she flirted her way back to his bedroom, though, only to assertively push him against his door as she sank to her knees.

A few rounds later, he desperately fought a contented sleep. He softly stroked the skin of her stomach. “Still awake, love?”

“I don’t sleep anymore,” she said, turning to face him. “My mom died, and I don’t like my dreams.”

Eyebrows crunching together, Klaus found himself leaning away as he carefully looked her over. “I hadn’t heard about your mother,” he said, uncomfortable with the knowledge that he knew nothing of her life anymore. Thankfully, he had sobered up enough for this conversation during their interlude. “I’m sorry.”

Shockingly, Caroline just shrugged. “No worries,” she replied, running her fingers along his tattoo. “I was just explaining why I was awake.”

Klaus withdrew entirely at her nonchalant tone, his expression hard. “You turned it off.”

“Yep,” she chirped, smiling brightly. “Aren’t I so much more fun?”

He knew he was at a dangerous crossroads with Caroline in this state. They had already slept together, which she would surely regret. Even if he couldn’t let it happen again, though, he couldn’t risk Caroline leaving without flipping the switch back. Humanity-free vampires were reckless. Worse, she would be seen as a threat to be targeted.

“I always enjoy you, sweetheart,” he hedged, smirking as he reached for her again. “You know that.”

She hummed noncommittally. Brushing his hair back, she bit her lip. “You should sleep,” she said. “Or else, I might be tempted for another round.”

Reluctant to let her out of his sight when he didn’t have a plan, the best thing Klaus could do was to play along. “I’ll see you in the morning,” he promised, closing his eyes and pulling her closer.

“Sweet dreams, Klaus,” she whispered.

Caroline was gone by the time he woke.

* * *

She could feel him staring at her. Even thirty years passing had done nothing to lessen his effect on her. Caroline didn’t bother turning, though. She just leaned on the railing, staring out over Paris as the sun set. The Eiffel Tower might be a cliche meeting point, but it worked for them.

Sensing his approach, she addressed him. “Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world... It’s about time you caught up with me.”

“I stopped searching once I knew you flipped the switch back,” he answered, sidling up next to her. His voice lacked the bitterness she expected; that search must have lasted more than a year since her trip to New Orleans.

“So,” she said, raising an eyebrow, though she still didn’t look at him. “This run-in is a complete coincidence?”

“An old acquaintance here mentioned meeting you, that you were living in Paris,” Klaus admitted. “I remembered an offer I once extended, and I found myself wanting to follow through.”

“Will you remember me,” she asked coyly as she finally faced him, echoing a song she had loved so long ago. “Standing in a nice dress, staring at the sunset?”

Klaus chuckled, thinking back to their first time in the woods. “No,” he said clearly.

Surprised, Caroline nearly flinched. Looking down, she felt all seventeen of her human years. “Oh,” she breathed. “You decided I was a blip on the radar after all?”

“No,” Klaus answered, this time with a teasing smile. “I’m done remembering, wondering in hindsight what I could have done differently. My offer still stands, I’m just hoping you’ll accept this time.”

Blinking, Caroline’s eyes darted back up to his. He might have been laughing at her, but she couldn’t bite back the smile threatening to split her face. “Too many memories haunting you,” she teased, moving a bit closer.

Nodding, Klaus finally reached for her hand. He brought her wrist to his lips, placing a barely-there kiss on her sensitive skin. “You have no idea.”


End file.
